


An Accidental Engagement

by frogy



Series: Scenes from a Mating [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: College, Engagement, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Mating, Schmoop, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-31
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-13 05:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/500160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogy/pseuds/frogy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is a year away from graduating again. The first time around, when it was high school he was a year out from graduating from, Derek told Stiles that was reason enough not to bother acting on this thing that had been growing between them. Luckily, Stiles has always been the bullheaded brains of the operation.</p><p>In which Derek and Stiles get all sorts of engaged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Accidental Engagement

**Author's Note:**

> More wedding-y schmoop. Still un-beta'd.

Stiles is a year away from graduating again. The first time around, when it was high school he was a year out from graduating from, Derek told Stiles that was reason enough not to bother acting on this thing that had been growing between them. Luckily, Stiles has always been the bullheaded brains of the operation. And four years later even Derek will admit that he was wrong that time. But for Derek, that doesn't mean anything about this time. Stiles has yet to realize exactly what Derek is worried about.

If Derek is being clingy, snuffling his face in Stiles neck and keeping Stiles's hand grasped between his (in private obviously, in front of other people Derek is always perfectly restrained), Stiles is more than okay with it. He's excited about going back to college for his senior year, but leaving Derek at the end of every summer always sucks. 

Or at least Stiles assumes he's the only one to notice. Most of the time people when people find out they're together they're surprised. They'd never know. Derek seems so cold. Stiles is tired of people's skepticism. But this morning, after seeing Derek off at the front door, Derek giving his hand a bone-crushing squeeze and a peck of a kiss on the lips, his dad has another observation.

"It's cute how much Derek doesn't want you to go back to school."

"What?" Stiles asks, just taking his first mug of coffee and totally unable to process his dad saying anything about Derek is 'cute.'

"He's been here every night for the last two weeks, except for Friday and Saturday night, when you were conspicuously absent. He even kissed you where I might have seen this morning."

"You said he could stay over," Stiles says, still not sure what his dad is getting at. His dad did say that, the summer after freshman year. Stiles may have been spending a lot of nights at Derek's, but he didn't think his dad had noticed. The resultant conversation was awkward. He hopes they're not having another one. He's not awake enough for another conversation like that.

"I know what I said," the sheriff says. "But when I said that it was because I thought it would be better, safer for you to be here than off doing who knows what with a dangerous older man."

"Dad," Stiles says, ready to jump to Derek's defense.

"No, I know I was wrong," his dad says, cutting Stiles off. "I see you two together, even if you don't think I do. You have a good thing with Derek. He cares more than he lets on."

"Thanks," Stiles says, "I think."

Stiles spends the day at work, at the library. He does a lot of shelving books, but every now and then someone has a research question the real librarians let him help with. After work there's a pack meeting, which is largely just hanging out since they're not currently facing any supernatural catastrophes. Stiles and Derek grab a late night pizza post-pack meeting, which is when Stiles mentions the conversation with his dad.

"I can come over less, if he wants," Derek says, missing the point entirely.

Which is exactly what Stiles tells him. "You're missing the point entirely. My dad likes you."

"Okay," Derek says, shrugging.

"You don't have to be all stoic about it," Stiles says, kicking at Derek's feet under the table. "I'm going to miss you too when I go back to school." Stiles says.

"And then what?" Derek asks.

"What?"

"You only have one more year," Derek says.

"Yeah, one more year and then I move back for good. So it's a good thing my dad's okay with you being over all the time."

Derek doesn't say anything, just shrugs and takes another bite of his pizza.

"Wait," Stiles says, "Are you worried about graduation again? Wow, you are, you moron."

"I love it when you talk all sweet to me like that," Derek smirks.

"No, no distracting me, we're talking about this. Of course I'm moving home after graduation. You're here. My dad's here. Where else would I go?"

"You could go anywhere."

"Because my BA in English is going to have people banging down my door to offer me jobs." Stiles rolls his eyes.

"And an honor's thesis." Stiles finds Derek's enthusiasm for his thesis weird. (Derek is proud. Stiles downplays his accomplishments, and it drives Derek crazy that he doesn't see how amazing he is.)

"On fairy tales," Stiles says. "And don't say that, you'll jinx it. I haven't written it yet."

"So then, if you've got this whole moving home thing figured out, what's your plan for after graduation?" Derek asks.

"I've been talking to Cheryl about whether there'd be anything full time at the library," Stiles says. "And I thought I'd try my hand at writing. Someone needs to write the bestiaries of the future. How long does it take for a language to become a dead language? How many years are we from English being a dead language?" Stiles goes on a mini-tangent before circling back to the point. "I mean, what else am I going to do, go to grad school?"

"Sure," Derek says. "You can do anything. That's kind of the point of getting an education."

"One, you are way too young to have uttered that sentence. Two, I don't want to go somewhere else. I want to be here. What can I do to make you believe that this is serious for me? Because you're it. I only want to be with you."

"You can be my mate," Derek says. 

There's a shocked look on Derek's face like he's not sure where that came from. But Stiles answers easily. "Sure. What does that mean?" Stiles likes the sound of mates. It sounds like forever.

"Shouldn't those be the other way around?" Derek asks, pulling back into his seat on the opposite side of the booth.

"No, it doesn't matter what it is. The answer is yes."

"There's a blood bond involved."

"Still yes," Stiles says. 

"There's a ceremony that goes with it, on the night of the full moon with the whole pack."

"Like a wedding?" 

Derek scrunches up his face, thinking. "I guess, sort of," he concedes. Derek is big on tradition and not so much on what he considers disposable human culture.

"We're going to get werewolf married," Stiles says excitedly, beaming at Derek.

"Mated," Derek corrects. "We're going to be mates." He smiles back at Stiles as he says it, like he can't help it, his whole face softening.

"Mates," Stiles agrees readily. "Can we get human married too? I mean, we don't have to," and Stiles voice drops, soft and serious, "but like, if anything happened, I want to you to be able to be the one who can come see me, and who can make decisions and things," he trails off looking at his hands clasped on the table, clearly somewhere else in his head, in a past where he still had a mom and his dad a wife. When he looks back up, his smile doesn't reach his eyes. "And we'd get a tax break," he adds.

"Yes, of course," Derek says, reaching a hand across the table, to take Stiles's. "If it means that much to you, of course we can get married."

Stiles's face lights up as Derek speaks. "Oh, wow," he says. "We're getting married. You're my fiance. We're fiances. And. . ." Stiles trails off. "Is there some other word?" he asks, tilting his head in question

"Fiance is fine," Derek says. "There's no other term, either you're mates or you're not."

"Fiance," Stiles says again, awed. "And soon, mates."


End file.
